Initiative will seek to encourage student groups to donate to university causes
"Florida State University student leaders Monday said they will launch a fundraising initiative to coincide with the launch of the university’s high-profile Billion Dollar Capital Campaign this fall, joining other initiatives in the university’s push to rank among the nation’s top 25 public universities.
The main idea of the Student Million Dollar Capital Campaign is to encourage student groups on FSU’s campus to give to areas of the university that coincide with their interests, according to Student Body President Stefano Cavallaro. He said the long-term goal of the initiative is to get students in the habit of donating to the university, even after they graduate.
“There are groups on campus that have fundraisers and philanthropies for organizations outside FSU, and that’s a great thing,” Cavallaro said. “But we want to encourage them to donate to the university in areas that will benefit them and FSU as a whole.”
The initiative is the brainchild of the university’s three student direct support organizations: Student Seminole Boosters, the Student Alumni Association and the FSU Student Foundation.
Along with initiatives such as the faculty and staff-run “25 for 25” campaign and the Billion Dollar Capital Campaign, the million-dollar campaign is aimed at advancing the university’s high-profile goal of ranking among the top 25 public universities in the U.S., a goal set by former FSU President Eric Barron last year.
Barron left the university in April to take on the presidency at Pennsylvania State University, raising concerns among the FSU community of whether the initiatives would continue in Barron’s absence. The university has since decided to push on with the campaigns.
The campaign’s announcement Monday marks only a soft launch for the initiative. With the program still in its infancy, the summer months will act as a planning period for a full launch in the fall during football season. But Cavallaro said the purpose of the soft launch is to put the campaign on the radar of potential donors and student groups.
The million dollar capital campaign is meant to launch along with the university’s larger Billion Dollar Capital Campaign, which is now past its halfway mark and will see its vital public launch during this year’s football season. Andrew Wilson, FSU’s student body chief of staff and the president of Seminole Student Boosters, said the student initiative would launch shortly after the billion-dollar campaign around Florida State’s Homecoming football game.
But the campaign faces the challenge of convincing student groups to donate to Florida State and its causes, rather than outside organizations and charities that may have previously been the recipient of such student donations, such as national philanthropies. The million-dollar campaign seeks to turn more student group fundraising toward university efforts.
“We want to get students conditioned to giving to FSU while they’re still here,” Wilson said. According to Wilson, students gave more than $250,000 to the university last year, a fact he said makes the idea of a million-dollar capital campaign a realistic prospect.
For Now, Wilson said the campaign’s executive committee will meet biweekly as they lock down a marketing strategy for the initiative and plan for its full launch later this year."
Along with initiatives such as the faculty and staff-run “25 for 25” campaign and the Billion Dollar Capital Campaign, the million-dollar campaign is aimed at advancing the university’s high-profile goal of ranking among the top 25 public universities in the U.S., a goal set by former FSU President Eric Barron last year.
Barron left the university in April to take on the presidency at Pennsylvania State University, raising concerns among the FSU community of whether the initiatives would continue in Barron’s absence. The university has since decided to push on with the campaigns.
The campaign’s announcement Monday marks only a soft launch for the initiative. With the program still in its infancy, the summer months will act as a planning period for a full launch in the fall during football season. But Cavallaro said the purpose of the soft launch is to put the campaign on the radar of potential donors and student groups.
The million dollar capital campaign is meant to launch along with the university’s larger Billion Dollar Capital Campaign, which is now past its halfway mark and will see its vital public launch during this year’s football season. Andrew Wilson, FSU’s student body chief of staff and the president of Seminole Student Boosters, said the student initiative would launch shortly after the billion-dollar campaign around Florida State’s Homecoming football game.
But the campaign faces the challenge of convincing student groups to donate to Florida State and its causes, rather than outside organizations and charities that may have previously been the recipient of such student donations, such as national philanthropies. The million-dollar campaign seeks to turn more student group fundraising toward university efforts.
“We want to get students conditioned to giving to FSU while they’re still here,” Wilson said. According to Wilson, students gave more than $250,000 to the university last year, a fact he said makes the idea of a million-dollar capital campaign a realistic prospect.
For Now, Wilson said the campaign’s executive committee will meet biweekly as they lock down a marketing strategy for the initiative and plan for its full launch later this year."
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